Reflection
In Joshua 5, we find that the Lord meets with Joshua, appearing as a Commander with a drawn sword. He does this to fulfill His promise to Joshua that we find in chapter 1 – “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” I’m sure Joshua wanted to know if God would meet with him like He did with Moses, and he gets his answer in a face-to-face meeting with the 2nd Person of the Trinity.
So often people think that God doesn’t listen. A man named Christian Smith termed today’s mainstream worldview (especially among youth) as “the Creed of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.” In other words, religion is only to make us feel better, and the only god that exists is one who is not active in our lives or in this world. The great theologian Francis Schaefer wrote a book entitled “He is There and He is not Silent” to say that God is just as active in our lives. Sometimes we don’t hear Him or sense Him because we aren’t listening and haven’t been accustomed to having Him speak in our lives. We look to Him during the crisis moments, but what about the everyday moments?
Practicing the Presence of God, as Brother Lawrence coined, is a discipline of spending time with the Lord and making a conscious effort to realize that God is always there with us. We will hear Him… but only if we take time to listen.
Prayer
Thank God for being there for you. Thank Him for His awesome presence. Thank Him for revealing Himself to you. Ask Him to help you cultivate a discipline of practicing His presence and living a life of prayer. Ask Him to help you recognize His voice.